November 2011

November 15, 2011

When I was in college, I had a great advertising class at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern. I wrote a paper comparing art and advertising. I thought it was pretty good. I can't remember the particulars, but I'm sure I argued there is artistic value to ads. Admit it, some are downright beautiful. Think print ads from Absolut. Worthy of a gallery, right?

Will digital advertising destroy any sense of artistic value in advertising? The reason I've wondered is obvious. We're assaulted on a daily basis with thousands of flashy, ugly words and images. True, some get our attention and sell stuff. Sometimes a lot of stuff. Reminds me of the days of direct mail. But can digital ads be both beautiful and effective?

Josh Quittner is the editorial director at Flipboard. If you're not familiar with Flipboard, you should be. Then you'll be addicted to it like I am. Flipboard is an iPad magazine that curates social media and magazine content and renders it into gorgeous magazine-like pages. There's a great Advertising Age article today in which Quittner, who comes from the traditional magazine world, claims Flipboard is fighting a "war of good taste" with digital advertisers. They often turn down ads because they're unappealing. Really. Quittner envisions smarter, better digital ads with content users want to consume as an inner-magazine with photos and video content of its own. Thinking about a new car? Why wouldn't you follow a fun link about the new Beetle?

An old 1788 definition of tacky has it as "sticky; an act of attaching temporarily." Now bring that forward to our time, to websites and to our desire for visitors to linger, click through and stay for a while. In that sense, we actually do want our digital ads to be tacky. They just need to look nice, too.

November 14, 2011

Modulation of the voice; a bend or angle; the point at which a concave line turns convex or vice versa.

When we hear someone's voice change, we often sense a difference. It could be a shift to happiness, seriousness, anger or curiosity. But sometimes, when it's very subtle, we might not notice this shift in tone. Good listeners pick up on these things.

As marketers we need to be good listeners as well, don't we? If we could hook customers into devices that detect changes in tone, we'd be all set. Instead we have to actually talk to people who buy (and don't buy) whatever we're selling. We have to ask questions and listen to the answers. Some companies don't like talking with customers. It's not conversation they dislike, it's the response required. Change is uncomfortable.

In a business, as sales begin to flatten out, there are two directions the graph can go: back up...or down. If sales go down, there's no inflection point, just the top of a hill. If we can coax sales back up again, there is an inflection point...just as the curve changes. All of us seek that point. Or more specifically, we seek the strategies that create that point.

I got the idea for this word from Amy Fulford, who operates a boutique consulting firm called Enlight. Amy's not the first person to use the term inflection point in relation to business strategy. But Amy's very particular about words. She also talks about provocation and conviction, not to mention humility and grace. These are words we don't often hear in business. But we may need a little more of all these to inspire change.

Without change, there's no inflection point. Without change, there's a downward slide. You might ask and you might even listen, but without responsive action and change, there's probably no growth. Change is not an admission that what we've done in the past was somehow wrong. It's just a realization of what's required in the future.

What will it take to create an inflection point in your world? Sometimes a change in tone captures attention. If nobody hears you, try speaking a little louder.

Matthew Kelly: The Dream ManagerKelly tells the story of a company that becomes devoted to helping employees attain their dreams outside of the office. Then you are challenged to create a program like it for your company.